Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy

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I am returning from a truly exceptional weekend conference. The conversations were insightful, deep, and very interdisciplinary. The two keynotes were incredibly insightful, and at least one, is a leading authority in his area of expertise. The conference’s size was such that we sat with the keynote for dinner, clinging to his words like groupies at a Beetles tribute concert. So, despite my fondness of this conference, I am not inclined to encourage others to attend. Let me be clear — I am being selfish on this one. If the conference remains a small conference (twenty or so academics from various fields), I would be tickled. That’s because this conference is, for me, a “safe conference. Its a place where I can be relatively anonymous and present a paper that I am beginning to vet without worry that it might sound incomplete, have inarticulate holes, etc…. Its also a place where I can go and feel safe about real discussions in academia. So despite the fact that I truly enjoy this conference that I will return, your not likely to hear a thing about the conference from me, except that I was in some exotic far away place for three days.

Do you attend safe conferences in your field? Are you as possessory about keeping them “safe places?”